the woes of writing in Filipino.

When I'm talking my brain functions in Filipino. Filipino is my talking language, after all, broken and funny as my Filipino may sometimes be. Filipino is the language of emotion and hyperbole. Conversation flows in Filipino, and I never have to wonder what the word is for what I have to say next.

Writing is a different story. I read in English and I write in English, as this is probably proving, and I've never developed a sense for written Filipino the way I have for written English. Filipino isn't a language I read, it's a language I hear, and when I try to write it all falls flat, because there are things you can say but not write. There are things you can get away with speaking that you can't writing. And when I try to start something in written Filipino I invariably fall back to asking for the Filipino translations of the words I need, because my writing vocabulary is in English.

The short version: I want this paper to be over and done with.

the woes of writing in Filipino.

When I'm talking my brain functions in Filipino. Filipino is my talking language, after all, broken and funny as my Filipino may sometimes be. Filipino is the language of emotion and hyperbole. Conversation flows in Filipino, and I never have to wonder what the word is for what I have to say next.

Writing is a different story. I read in English and I write in English, as this is probably proving, and I've never developed a sense for written Filipino the way I have for written English. Filipino isn't a language I read, it's a language I hear, and when I try to write it all falls flat, because there are things you can say but not write. There are things you can get away with speaking that you can't writing. And when I try to start something in written Filipino I invariably fall back to asking for the Filipino translations of the words I need, because my writing vocabulary is in English.

The short version: I want this paper to be over and done with.